


shatter - burn

by DarkrystalSky, ok_but_first_tea



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: And we mean it in the real way not in the TAZ way, Character Death, You've been warned, we did a bad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-20 04:44:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14253279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkrystalSky/pseuds/DarkrystalSky, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ok_but_first_tea/pseuds/ok_but_first_tea
Summary: The Umbrastaff breaks.It's too early, it's too wrong.It's too late.





	shatter - burn

There’s a man in front of Taako.

The man is crying. He’s bleeding. He’s smiling.

He falls.

Taako falls to his knees, a trickle of smoke rising from the tip of the wand in his hand. He’s crying, he’s alone and that’s so, _so_ wrong. Why is he alone? Why is he crying? He doesn’t know why.

 

There’s a skeleton in front of Taako.

It’s sitting, the bones are clean and it looks like it’s been here for a *long* time. _10 years exactly,_ he knows that. Taako approaches and pulls on the handle of the cane- no, it’s an _umbrella_. He knows it’s an umbrella before the fabric starts to appear.

The skeleton moves and for a moment that’s absolutely normal.

He doesn’t know why.

 

Magnus sits heavily on the bench of the training area. The Director is eyeing him severely, she seems to be very invested in training you as hard as possible these days. Taako knows she’s about to scold him, when a snapping noise resounds in the room and Magnus realizes he just sat on the Umbrastaff.

Fuck, Taako loved that thing.

Before Magnus can apologize, though, there’s an explosion that tosses him halfway through the training area. There’s a column of fire rising from the two broken halves of the staff and a figure starts forming, extending _her_ arms towards Taako.

And then there’s holy light.

And the figure starts screaming.

And the Director is _horrified_ , she’s trying to cast a spell but it’s too late: the figure is consumed by the holy light and it disappears in smoke and ashes.

Taako could swear the fire was calling his name in agony before disappearing.

And the Director is paralyzed.

And Taako realizes he’s crying.

He doesn’t know why.

-

Lucretia didn’t know. She didn’t know. She had only wanted to keep them out, Barry and Lup,  but seeing Lup, and like that. Her mind was reeling. She couldn’t have known.

Lucretia’s brain plays the screams of her friend, of her _sister_ , on loop for days after.

Taako apologized for the whole thing. He thinks it was his fault. He doesn’t who it was. He thinks it was his fault.

Magnus, too, apologized for breaking the Umbrastaff. No one minded, not really. They were all too busy wondering what happened.

Lucretia tries not to think about it. It doesn’t work. The only result was a festering guilt about trying to ignore the facts.

Lucretia puts down the lich ward.

She can’t have it in her office anymore. She can’t stay next to it without puking.

Of course, after she puts it down, Barry shows up.

 

He makes quite the entrance. A Red Robe, the ultimate bad guy, the myth of the evil cult that should be dead that Lucretia told everyone.

Her friend.

She stands in front of him while her employees cower in fear. Some try to cast stuff on them, a few objects are thrown at Barry, so she puts up a shield around them. A barrier, of sorts.

She tells him about her organization. He’s very patiently listening. She tells him what she was trying to achieve. She tells him about the rest of their group, that _all of them_ were on the moonbase.

She hesitates after that. Barry takes it as his cue to talk.

He says he guessed as much, and that he understands.

He asks her if they could maybe put their differences aside, and work together.

He says he doesn’t forgive her yet, but they can still work together to fix this.

They can try her plan if she’s so sure of it. Lucretia stops him. She says she has more to say.

He doesn’t take the news well.

 

When the barrier, the shield Lucretia had put up, comes down, only one person is revealed.

A crowd gathers around Lucretia, and they cheer. The Red Robe is gone. Madame Director defeated them.

Lucretia doesn’t smile. She doesn’t acknowledge the crowd’s celebrations. She simply stands. She stares at the place where the Red Robe used to be, her face slowly morphing into abject horror.

Then, she falls to her knees.

The celebrations stop immediately as Lucretia starts sobbing.

 _This wasn’t how it was supposed to go,_ she knows. _They were supposed to be happy._

With the strength of an ancient, broken warrior, she forces her lungs to cooperate. She feels heavy, so heavy, but she stands. Leaning on her staff, she stands. Her vision is blurred from tears she doesn’t dare to cry.

This is not the ending she planned, but it is the one she got.

Lucretia looks for her friends in the crowd, and sure enough there they are.

Predictions, calculations, doubts. All of it is swirling in her mind, tainted with grief.

She motions toward them.

She says “We need to talk.”

There is confusion among the crowd. But the three Reclaimers don’t refuse. They follow her into her office. Davenport is, as always these days, right behind her. They watch as she opens the big, heavy door. They follow her as she types the numbers into the wall.

She sits them down at a table. Lucretia takes four glasses, sits down, and fills them with a liquid from a tank.

She gives each of her friends a glass to drink from.

“Drink,” she says. Her voice is monotone. Her eyes are tired.

She knows it’s the last word she’s going to ever say, but she’s okay with that. She doesn’t defend herself when Taako raises his wand to end her. She only nods at him.

Permission. Approval, maybe.

They can do it. She knows it. They can save everyone.

But maybe they are better off without her, after all.


End file.
